32% of US and UK consumers say AI is negatively disrupting the creator economy, up from 18% in 2023, according to July 2025 data from Billion Dollar Boy.
As retail media moves from side business to centerpiece, big brands are prioritizing measurement and efficiency to cement the channel as a mature budget item. Retail media will grow almost 20% this year (19.4%) to reach $58.79 billion, according to EMARKETER's September 2025 forecast. In recent earnings calls, tech leaders described a channel that is now about solid data, AI-driven relevance, and reshaping how advertisers reach shoppers.
Jeff Bezos is returning to an operational role for the first time since stepping down as CEO from Amazon in 2021. His new startup—Project Prometheus—launched with $6.2 billion in funding, instantly making it one of the best-capitalized early-stage AI companies, per The New York Times. The company is focused on "physical AI" for engineering and manufacturing across computers, humanoid robots, aerospace, and automotive. Brands should watch how physical AI reshapes manufacturing and R&D. The next competitive edge will come from using AI to prototype new products, automate factory intelligence, and bring ideas to market with unprecedented speed.
WPP is reportedly eyeing a merger with holding company Havas and private equity firms KKR and Apollo, per the Times. A merged WPP and Havas would provide more value to advertisers by giving access to a broader mix of services.
LinkedIn’s AI-driven people search lets users type plain-language queries like “marketing leaders with AI experience” and instantly find matches—even if those exact words don’t appear on a profile, per TechRadar. The upgrade, available to US Premium subscribers, makes LinkedIn far more context aware—and strengthens its role as a precision targeting engine at a time when its ad business keeps climbing. For marketers on LinkedIn, the implications are significant and offer improvements in precision targeting, campaign efficiency, and intent-driven discovery.
Travelers are becoming more comfortable with AI and incorporating it into their trip discovery and planning processes, presenting an opportunity for travel companies to apply the technology for decision-making and customer experiences. However, the travel industry is still in an experimental phase and could be missing user and revenue gains. To capitalize on travelers’ use of and confidence in AI, travel companies need to move from testing the technology to fully integrating it. That includes building traveler trust through transparency, investing in data infrastructure, and exploring consumer-facing AI agents.
Agency and digital marketers are adopting AI en masse, but notable confidence and training gaps could hinder execution and ROI. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of agency and brand marketers worldwide plan to use AI next year, per MIQ. However, less than half (45%) are confident in their ability to use it to drive operational efficiencies. CMOs need to treat upskilling as a core investment so employees can help support pilots and work independently on AI-driven projects. Leaders should develop role-specific training paths, establish AI leads to answer project questions, and offer prompt libraries to safely practice engaging with AI.
OpenAI's GPT-5.1, a notable model upgrade with improved prompt comprehension over the poorly received GPT-5, is now equipped with seven personality options. Marketers should test how GPT 5.1 and the chatbot’s personalities align with specific tasks and brand tone and voice. Agencies working with numerous brands can use the chatbot’s personalities to meet the various requirements of clients, such as Professional for more serious product campaigns—for example, a pharma or financial company—and Friendly or Quirky for Christmas campaigns from fashion brands.
Google is expanding its AI-powered travel planning and booking tools, introducing Canvas itineraries and broader agentic booking features directly within AI Mode in Search. The update brings real-time flight and hotel data, personalized recommendations, and streamlined reservations across major platforms, with full flight and hotel bookings coming soon. Google is also rolling out its Flight Deals tool globally. The shift toward surfacing these capabilities in Search should boost adoption and intensify pressure on travel companies that lag in AI-driven decision-making.
Amazon quietly introduced agentic shopping capabilities to its Rufus chatbot last week. Customers can now ask Rufus to monitor products and make a purchase when an item reaches a target price or discount level. Amazon’s “Auto Buy” feature could make Rufus more useful for deal-seeking shoppers this holiday season—provided they know the option exists and trust the chatbot’s accuracy. Over the long term, adding more agentic features to Rufus—which has been used by 250 million active customers this year alone—could enable Amazon to satisfy shoppers’ desire for AI assistance without ceding ground to platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Rising CPMs, algorithmic volatility, and audience fatigue are flattening social’s growth curve as marketers run into diminishing returns on Meta, TikTok, and Google. That ceiling is forcing brands to seek fresh reach—and connected TV (CTV) is stepping into that void with premium screens, measurable outcomes, and higher emotional lift. As social hits its natural saturation point, CTV delivers the attribution clarity and emotional weight brands can’t get from feeds anymore. Advertisers should make CTV a central line item—not an extension of social video—and use AI-powered optimization to drive efficiency and real-time tuning.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the three big questions surrounding Google in Q3 and beyond: How much of a competitor to Google Chrome is OpenAI’s new browser, Atlas? What’s the main takeaway from the remedies hearings about Google’s ad tech business? And what’s the significance of Google’s first $100 billion quarter? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
Facebook is creating a more social Marketplace experience with collaborative features aimed at making buying and selling feel more interactive. The platform is rolling out “collections” that let users create groups of Marketplace listings and invite friends to browse together. It’s also adding reactions and comments directly on listings. Brands should explore ad placements within the shopping platform to meet high-intent, young customers who are already in a product discovery mindset.
Microsoft is turning to lifestyle creators to make Copilot a cultural player, not just a productivity tool. TikTok stars like Alix Earle, Brigette and Danielle Pheloung, and Brandon Edelman are showing Copilot in real-life contexts—beauty, fashion, and self-improvement—garnering millions of views and repositioning the AI assistant for Gen Z and women users. Consumer CMO Yusuf Mehdi calls Microsoft a “challenger brand” in AI assistants, with 150 million users compared with ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly. The influencer pivot signals a shift toward utility-driven marketing—content that demonstrates value in everyday life rather than selling aspiration.
Google is adding agentic checkout to its shopping capabilities in time for the holiday season, alongside other genAI tools. These updates defend Google’s core search ad business as shopping queries move toward conversational interfaces, even as the company still dominates the search journey. They also position Google to benefit from increased genAI adoption this holiday season.
Google is expanding its use of agentic AI across its advertising suite, announcing that Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor—two new, Gemini-powered assistants—will roll out to all English-language Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts in early December. Per Google, the tools aim to make campaign management and data interpretation faster, simpler, and more conversational. AI copilots are becoming table stakes. With Google and Amazon both embedding agentic AI into their ecosystems, conversational interfaces will soon be the default way advertisers plan and manage campaigns.
From grocery aisles to gig apps, the biggest names in commerce are converging on the same conclusion: Grocery has grown into the ultimate testbed for convenience, loyalty, and AI-driven efficiency.
An overwhelming 98% of music listeners failed to differentiate between human-made and AI-generated music in a blind test of three songs that contained two made with AI, per a survey of 9,000 consumers in eight countries from Ipsos and music platform Deezer. In the immediate future, advertisers are likely to disclose AI use in formats like video, where its more abrasive elements are easier to spot—but also as a way to position themselves as technology-forward brands.